Refrigeration apparatus.



G. A. KRAMER.

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS. APPUCATION FILED FEB. 12. 19:5.

Patented 00. 8, 1918.

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p with said points.

lever device 45 fulcrumed at 45, and having the arm 47 is on the maincontact points 51 'and'52, while the arm 48 is then out of contact withthe points 53. and 54. When the arm 48 is moved into contact with points53 and 54 it closes the circuit through them, and the circuits throughthe other pairs of contact points are opened.

The rock-lever device has an arm 55,-

which may ride to one side or the otherof a nose formed on a spring 56,'the function of this spring being to cause the rocking lever 45 tocomplete itsmovement, and to .keep the lever in either of its extremepositions.-

The-main electric lines are indicated at 57 and 58. One of these lines;for example, the line 57, runs directly to the electric motor 29, whilethe other line, as, for example, the line 58, is led to the'motorthrough the two contact points 51 and 52, the circuit being closed onlywhen the arm 47 is in contact The solenoid coils 39 and 40 are each'included in a local circuit leading from its respective contact post37, 38. The saidcoils havea common return wire 59 leading from the mainline wire 58. Each local circuit includes the pair of contact points 49and 50, 53 and 54. The contact post 34 of the thermostatic bar isconnected to the main line wire 57 as by the conductor 60.

The solenoids and the rocking lever device with the corresponding armsand coacting contact points constitute an automatic switch, serving tostartand stop the motor and also to control the controlling circuits tothe respective solenoids.

While the thermostatic device may be placed at any particular point thetemperature of which is to bevcontrolled, itis an important feature ofthe present invention that this thermostatic device is removably locatedwithin the brine tank 1 for the following reasons: The brine tank withitsrefrigeration coil takes the place of a block of ice in the ordinaryrefrigerator, and by locating the thermostatic device within the brinetank the apparatus is controlled to maintain a fairly uniformtemperature of the brine. This avoids the irregular operation of therefrigerating apparatus, which might otherwise be brought about byopening the refrigerator doors, which might occur if the thermostat werelocated directly in the refrigerator compartment and accessible to theatmosphere.

As shown inFigs. 5 and 6, the mechanism I so far described is entirelyinclosed, except for the electrical connections to the motor,

in a refrigerator body 70, which, as usual,

is in the form of a double-walled casing. The brine tank 1, in which islocated the refri eration coil, issuitably supported in the coo ing'chamber 71 of the refrigerat oron: angle irons 72 secured to therefrigerator walls. The cooling chamber 71"is divided by a partition 73,which extends from the front to the back of the refrigerator and securedto the front and back walls thereof, passages being left above and belowthis partition for the circulation of .air through the cooling chamber.Trays 74, suitable in number, may be provided supported on brackets 75of this partition and on one of the side walls of the refri era-tor.

. To efi'ect one of the ob ects of the invention, the compressor, motor,condenser, oil separator and fan, are'supported so that they mayberemoved as a unit from the refrigerator casing for the purpose of readyinspection and necessary repairs. The manner in which these partsarethus supported may be somewhat varied, but in the particularconstruction illustrated, below the bottom of the'refrigerator, acompartment 56 is provided, at the bottom of which, between therefrigerator legs 77, is hung a support or base 78, arranged to slide onslides 79,

shown in the form of-angle irons supported from brackets secured to therefrigerator the latter figure, when all the parts thereof are inposition for ready inspection.

LThe operation of the device may be briefly described as follows: Therefrigerant liquid inthe refrigeration coil will be vaporized by theheat which it absorbs from the brine.

The vapor passing through the pipes 6 enters the vapor receptacle 5,from whence it is pumpedthrough the pipe 7 by the vacuum pump andcompressor 8. The compressed vapor is forced through the pipe 9 into thelubricant separator 10. The purpose of this separator is to remove anylubricant, such, for example, as glycerin, which might escape past thepistons of the compressor. The vapor freed from the lubricant passesfrom the separator on pipe ,17 to the condensing or cooling coil. It issubjected to the air cooling effect of the fan 32, and condenses inliquid form in the liquid receptacle 19..

From'here it is discharged by the pipe 25 to .as householdrefrigerators.

an TA ES PATEnroFFIoE.

GUSTAV A. KRAMER, or NEW YORK, N. Y.,AssIGNon, BYMESIIE ASSIGNMENTS,'ro.

THE rItIcInoia CORPORATION, A CORPORATION or VIRGINIA.

nnrmenaarron arraaaros.

Specification of Letters Patent.-

mam-ease. s, 1918.

Application fi1ed,Febri1ary 12, 1915. Serial no; 7,660.

To all whom it may concern:

siding at-New York city,'county of New.

York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refrigeration Apparatus, fully described and representedin the following specification and the accompanying drawlngs, forming apart of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in refrigeration systems and;particularly to a type of evaporation system particularly The object ofthe invention is to provide a system which will be reasonably efiicientin small units, automatic and reliable in operation, and capable ofready inspection and repair. It is a further object of the invention toprovide a ,construction for use with small refrigerators, in which thecompressor, the motor and the condenser are so mountedand' positioned inthe refrigerator that they may be removed therefrom for purposes'ofinspection and repair with the least possible difliculty.

With these general objects in view, and

some others which will be apparent to those skilled in. the art, theinvention consistsin the features, details of construction andcombinationof parts which will first be described in connection with theillustration of thepreferred. embodiment and then more particularlypointed out.

In the drawings--' a Figure .1 is a diagrammatic view of a smallrefrigeration system embodying the invention, the refrigerator beingomitted;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the refrigeration coil removed from itsbrine tank; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a thermostatic controldevice including an automatic switch embodying an important featureofthe system; V

Fig. 4 is a. detail sectional elevation of a special type of couplingemployed in the preferred 'embodiment of the invention Fig. 5 is a.front elevation, partly in sec v tion,of a smallrefrigerator, showingthe.

parts in the position of use;

' 6 is an end e Par ly atta- ..tion, of the constructionshow inFig 57and Fig. 7 is a view similar to-Fig. 6, partly broken away and partly insection, showing \the coil. thlS is effected may,-of-- course, beconsiderthe compressor, motor and condenser removed from therefrigerator casing.

A refrigeration apparatus embodying the present'invention depends forits refrigerative effect upon the evaporation of a volatilerefrigerantat the point where the refrigeration is desired."

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a brine tank arranged to be located inthe chamber which is.to be cooled. In the present ex am lo, the brinetank is a metal body, (prefera ly entirely closed or sealed an arrangedto be placed in the ice compartment of an ordinary refrigerator.

. Within the brine tank is located a holder for the refrigerant thisholder constituting inpfiect what may be termed a refrigeration C01refrigeration coil may be somewhatvaried, but in constructionsembodyingthe invention in its best form,there will be provided means whereby anexcess of refrigerant over and above that necessary for the operation ofthe system may be supplied to The particular means whereby ably varied,but, as shown, the holder, at a point intermediate its top and bottom,is provided with an enlarged portion forming a chamber 2, which isrelatively large with respect to the rest of the coil :in ordertocontain a relatively considerable body of refrigerant liquid, thusproviding for an. excess of refrigerant liquid to compensate for anysmall leakage/which may occur during a continued use of the apparatus.This pipes 3,in the-particular construction illustrated, with a receiver4 shown 1n the form of .a manifold. Above the chamber 2 is a Jvaporreceptacle 5, connected'by suitable A suitable means is rovided forremoving The particular construction 'of this chamber is above andconnected by vertical the vapor of. the re rigerant liquid from thatpart of the refrigeration coil above the liquid level. In the presentexample, the

dome or hood v5 jsconnected by a pipe 7 Y ,with the inlet of a suitablevacuum pump and compressor, such as .the twocy l1nder trunk casingcompressor indicated ft 8.

From the outlet of the compressor, a pipe p 9 leads to a lubricantseparator 10, the pipe 9 having its end bent downward and extendedtoward the bottom of the said separator. The separator 'is provided withsuitable means for separating lubricant from the vaporized refrigerant.In the example illustrated, the separator contains a perforatedpartition 11, on which maybe placed.

baflle-plates being provided with holes, those on one plate being instaggered relation tothose of any adjacent plate, so that therefrigerant is compelled to take a tortuous path in going past thebaffle-plates. At the upper end of the separator is located a filterdevice 13, consisting of a support on which is placed a sheet ofsuitable filter material, such as felt or the like.

The bottom of the separator is arranged to form a well in which theseparated lubricant may be collected. From this well the lubricant isautomatically returned to the lubricant receptacle of the compressorthrough a return pipe 14, which, in the particular instance shown, iscontrolled by an upwardly opening float valve 15, provided with a float16, located in the well. I,

The refrigerant is led away from that part of the separator above thefilter '13 by a pipe 17, and is conducted to the upper part of acondensing or cooling coil, which in the best embodiment of theinvention comprisesa top manifold 18, a liquid receptacle 19 at thebottom, and a plurality of pipes 20, connecting the manifold and liquidrece tacle.

The condensed liquid istr'ans erred from the liquid receptacle 19 to therefrigeration coil by means arranged to act automatically. The means foraccomplishing this constitutes an important feature of the presentinvention. These means may be somewhat varied in the best'constructions, however, and as shown such means comprise a float valvechamber 21, containing an upwardly-opening valve 22,. and afloat 23. Thechamber 21 has its valve-controlled opening connect ed to therefrigeration coil, as, for example, by means of a pipe 24 which leadsto the receiver 4: of said coil. While in the preferred construction therefrigerant is returned to the refrigeration coil through receiver 4, itwill be understood that such refrigerant may be returned to the coil 'atany other desired point.

The float valve chamber 21 has its upper portion connected to the liquidreceptacle 19 by a pipe 25, in the present example ar-' ranged like asiphon, this pipe being provided with a joint of special constructionfectseat is denser.

meat/ea which may be opened to permit ready disconnection'of the floatvalve chamber.

As shown in Fig. 1, the lower end of the siphon pipe 25 extends into theliquid re ceptacle 19 of the condensing coil, and acts to siphon overthe condensed refrigerant to are held in the chamber 19 below'the end ofthe siphon tube and are not siphoned over into the valve in returning tothe system. The joint, shown in detail in Fig. 4, is formed like theordinary union, with the exception, however,- that the head of thepipeengaging member 26 is made of hard metal and is arranged to bebrought in forcible contact with the inner edge of the pipe-engafgingmember 27, made of a relatively so ter metal, by the collar 28, by whichit results that when the collar 28 is screwed up, the two members 26 and27 are forced togetherwith sufficient pressure to compress the sharpinner edge of the soft metal member 27 into a fiat seat and thus producea tight joint equal to or better than the best ground joint. By formingthe hard metal member 26 with a semispherical head, a per- I roduced,even if the parts are a little out 'o' alinement or imperfectlymachined.

v For the purpose of operating the plant an electric motor 29 isemployed, its shaft 30 beice ing coupled to the crank-shaft 31 of thecompressor. The opposite end of the motor-. shaft is preferably providedwith a fan 32, which is so located as to cause a current of air forassisting in the cooling of the con- The electric motor is stopped andstarted of the refrigeration. In order to accomplish this result, athermostatic control of the motor is provided, the thermostat beingplaced in close proximity to the refrigeration coil, and preferablywithin the brine tank. The particular mechanism by which thethermostatic control is obtained constitutes an important feature of thepresent invention.

In the best embodiment of the invention, a thermostat is rovided of anysuitable type. As shown, 1t comprises the usual combined metallicthermostatic bar 33, secured at one end to a post 34, and having itsfree end arranged to move under the influence of temperature changesinto contact with contact screws 35 and 36, which are adjustable in therespective posts 37 and 38.

At 39 and 40 are shown solenoids, whose plungers. 41 and 42 areconnected by links 43 and 44: to the respective arms of a rockmovable suport located inthe recess, a compressor an means for driving it, acondenser mounted on the support, and detachable connections between thecompressor, condenser and the coil.

7 In a refrigerating system, in, combination with a refrigerator bodyhavin a coolbe withdrawn frontwise of the refrigera-' ing chamber and arefrigerating 0011 in the. chamber, a support located below the cool--ing' chamber and mounted so that it can tor body, a compressor and acondenser mounted on the support, detachable connections between thecompressor and condenser andthe coil, and means for driving thecompressor. v

8. In a refrlgeratorssystem, in combmation with a refrigerator bodyhaving a coolmg chamber with a refrigerating 0011 in the l chamber,a'movable support/located belowopen at the ends, a' compressor: andcondenser mounted on "the support and s detachable means between thecompressor and the condenser and the coil, and means for driv in vthecompressor.

n testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in thepresence of twosubscribing '20 the chamber and forming with th'e bottom 1' of therefrigerator body a holding m.

J. A.. KIMBER.

sou) PANNiR. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23.1917.

Patented Oct. 8 1918.

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